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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: tube · sharp · bat · court · object · clip · straw · board

  1. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  3. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  4. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  5. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  6. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  7. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  8. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  9. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  10. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  13. The ball is in your ________________.
  14. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. I'll be taking the ________________.
  17. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  18. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  19. It's one o'clock ________________.
  20. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  21. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  22. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  23. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  24. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. straw — a straw man
  3. bat — the animal
  4. straw — to clutch at straws
  5. board — a committee
  6. object — a thing
  7. straw — dry grass
  8. object — to protest
  9. board — a flat piece
  10. sharp — with an edge
  11. clip — to cut
  12. object — an aim
  13. court — for sport
  14. tube — a container
  15. clip — a video
  16. tube — the underground
  17. court — of a king
  18. sharp — clever
  19. sharp — exactly
  20. bat — in an idiom
  21. court — of law
  22. bat — for baseball
  23. tube — in a tire
  24. board — to get on

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com